Inspira Nurses Vote to Take Action for Patient Safety, Safe Staffing

Nurses from Inspira Health Network voted on May 19th to hold informational picketing at Inspira hospitals on a date to be determined. All 1,300 Inspira nurses represented by the Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE) have been bargaining with Inspira management since April for provisions on safe staffing and patient safety.

According to the union, bargaining will continue and they hope to reach an agreement that includes safe staffing provisions, protections against floating nurses between hospital campuses, and job protection for nurses at the Woodbury hospital.

Inspira has announced plans to open a new hospital in Harrison Township which may result in the relocation of jobs and health care services from Woodbury to Harrison Township. Inspira submitted a Certificate of Need application with the Department of Health for the new hospital, and nurses are seeking job protection as these changes take place.

“I have worked at the Woodbury hospital for over 30 years, and as nurses we are invested in our jobs and providing the best care possible for our patients,” said Rich Wear, HPAE Local 5621 President, RN. “This contract is about making sure that we continue to maintain good jobs and quality healthcare as Inspira expands and grows.”

Over the past month, nurses have held leaflets at the hospital and launched a traveling billboard to call attention to unsafe staffing issues at Inspira hospitals. According to federal labor law, nurses must give management at least 10 days notice before taking action for an informational picket at the hospital. Nurses and Inspira management have three more bargaining sessions scheduled before the contract expires on May 31, 2016.

For more information contact: Bridget Devane at (732)996-5493

Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE) is a healthcare union representing 12,000 Nurses and health care professionals throughout New Jersey and Southeastern Pennsylvania and is an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers. Nurses at Inspira hospitals in Vineland, Elmer and Bridgeton organized with the HPAE Local 5131 in 2006, and nurses at Woodbury hospital organized HPAE Local 5621 in 2014, ratifying their first contract last year.